Telephone attachment.



J. WHITAKER. TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1914.

1,125,61. Patented Jan.19,191 5.

WITNESSES lA/l/E/VTOR Jhn/ By W ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS c0, PHOTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. D. c

JOHN WHITAKER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915.-

Application filed January 30, 1914. Serial N 0. 815,406.

To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, JOHN VVHITAKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Telephone Attachment, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

a means for hangmg up the reeciver of the telephone when not in use.

It is well known that with telephones as now generally used, in which the receiver is hung on a switch hook when not in use, the service is very materially interfered with by subscribers failing to properly place the receivers on the hooks. Often the receiver is left on the desk or other support, but very frequently a book or other obstruction di rectly beneaththe switch hook prevents the receiver from bringing down the hook to the proper extent; f

It is an object of my invention to provide a means whereby when the receiver is released by the user, the switch arm will be automatically lowered.

In carrying out the invention use is made of a weight with guide means associated with the telephone structure above the switch arm or hook, and a connection between the weight and the receiver, to suspend the latter. that the weight will gravitationally move to a position in contact with the switch arm, and depress the same, the connection between the weight and the receiver serving to suspend the latter. When the receiver is taken hold of by a user, the movement of the receiver will, through the flexible connection, cause the weight to be lifted to permit the rising movement of the arm.

The invention will be particularly ex plained in the specific description following.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a desk telephone showing the application of my 7 invention; Fig. 2 is a detail vertical section of the parts entering into the invention, showing the receiver suspended and the switch arm depressed by the weight; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail in vertical section The arrangement is such showing the weight raised from the switch arm as when the receiver is in use; and Fig. 4 1s a side elevation representing a slightly different manner of applying the invention to the telephone.

Referring particularly to the form shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be understood that although the invention is used in con nection with the desk telephone, the invention is not limited to use in connection with the latter, but may be variously applied to telephone structures generally.

1n the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3, lOindicates the phone structure of known form, 11 the transmitter mounted thereon, 12 the switch arm usually termed the receiver hook, the said arm operating vertically in the slot 13, and 14 indicates the receiver of any ap proved form, the conductor wires of which are conventionally indicated at 15.

Instead of directly hanging the receiver 14: onthe switch arm 12, I employ a weight 16 to depress the said arm, and connect the weight with the receiver by a cord or other flexible element 17. The weight is movable in a guide tube 18 having a lateral flaring mouth 19 presenting a rounded throat 20 to facilitate the movement of the flexible element 17 thereover.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the position of the guide tube 18 and its securing means are determined by the position of the switch arm 12, which in the usual desk telephone is located near the upper end of the stand structure 10. The securing means in this instance consists of a bracket 21 forked to conform to the general cross sectional form of thetelephone structure near thetop, said fork being secured in place by screws 22 or their equivalent. It is sufficient only that the securing means position the guide 18 so that its lower end, which is open for the passage of the weight 16, is disposed above the switch arm 12 a distance to afford proper clearance for the upward movement of the switch arm when relieved of the weight.

In the form shown in Fig. 4:, the telephone structure is the same as in the other figures, except that the switch arm 11 is located lower down, whereby the guide tube 18 may be secured in such position as not to project above the transmitter, thereby providing a more compact and more sightly arrangement. In securing the tube 18 two b ackets 21* may be provided, being forked to conform to the telephone structure and secured to the latter byscrews 22 or the like. In all other respects the elements are the same as in the first described construction. In both forms of the invention the form of the brackets 2-1 is such as to sustain the guide tube so spaced laterally from the telephone structure as to permit a persons fingers to pass between the tube and telephone structure in grasping the latter, as in the case of desk telephones.

In using the invention it will be obvious that upon the receiver being grasped by the user and a pull exerted on the flexible element 17, the weight '16 will be lifted from the switch arm and ,the latter permitted to rise in theusual manner to complete the. circuit. Upon release of the receiver by the user, the weight 16 will automatically drop and depress the arm 12, leaving the receiver 14: suspended. Thus the depression of the switch arm will not be dependent on the user in properly replacing the receiver.

In order to provide forcontingencies requiring the user of thetelephone to hold the line while leaving the phone temporarily, to return and complete the talk, I make provision for so securing the receiver as to prevent the weight from acting on the switch ar1n12. For the indicated purpose, a cleat 23 is formed on or secured to the tube 18, near the top, and preferably at the outside of the flaring mouth 19, as indicated inFigs. 1 and 1; thus the flexible element 17 connecting the receiver and weight may be given a turn or two around the cleat, to hold the same in a raised position.

Having thus. described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a telephone having a receiver and a i switch arm to make electrical connections when the receiver is in use, a weight, a guide for the weight to. direct the latter to a contact with the arm, a flexible element con- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the nected with the weight and extending outwardly through the guide, and a receiver hung on the said flexible element.

2. In a telephone having a receiver and a switch'armto make electrical connections when the receiver is in use, an element on which the receiver is hung, a weight on said element at the, opposite end, and means to guide the weight into contact with the switch arm when the receiver is not in use.

8. In a telephone having a receiver, and a switch arm to make electrical connections when the receiver is in use, a guide tube above the switch arm, said tube presenting a lateral mouth, a weight movable in the guide, and a flexible element on one end of which the receiver is suspended, said element being connected at its opposite end with the weight.

41. In a telephone having a receiver and a switch arm to make electrical connections when the receiver is in use, a weight arranged to gravitationally assumeaposition to depress the switcharm, a connection be tween the weight and the receiver whereby to hold the weight raised when the receiver is in use, and a device out of the path of movement of said connection, but adapted to be engaged by the said connection to hold the weight raised when desired by deflecting said connection from its normal path. 7

5. In a telephone having a receiver and a switch arm to. make electrical connections when the receiver is in use, a weight arranged to depress the switch arm, a flexible connection between the weight and the receiver, a guide for the weight, and a cleat on the guide for engagement by the said flexible connection. y

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. v JOHN WI'IITAKE' 1 Witnesses:

ALLEN J. CAssmY, FRED W. CAssmY, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G. 

